The Albatross
by rayemars
Summary: A story about Ryou, Yugi, and effects of their Millennium Items' spirits on them. Subtext.
1. The Albatross

Disclaimer: Once upon a time, there was a teenager who had nothing better to do one day than watch TV. She then stumbled upon a kid's show with lots of people running around dueling with monsters, babbling about the Heart of the Cards, and giving treatises on the glory of cartoons. She found this all immensely entertaining, and decided to write a story using said characters, all of whom belonged to persons other than her. 

Or in other words, Yu-Gi-Oh is not mine.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Like one that on a lonesome road  
Doth walk in fear and dread,  
And having once turn'd round, walks on,  
And turns no more his head;  
Because he knows a frightful fiend  
Doth close behind him tread."

--"Rime of the Ancient Mariner," Coleridge

_It's happening again_, Ryou Bakura thought, staring at the Millennium Ring in his hand.

The Ring had begun tugging on him as soon as he entered the class and walked past Yugi to his desk.  This wasn't the first time it had happened, and it was beginning to make Ryou wonder if Yugi were like him.  That heavy pyramid the teen wore around his neck bore a resemblance to his Ring, in style if not shape.

He quickly pushed those thoughts aside, for fear that they would rouse Him: the spirit within the Ring.  The last thing Ryou wanted today was its attention.  Today, he had to be perfectly unobtrusive and unimportant.

Even so, if Yugi **was** like him, the wild-haired boy had his sympathy.  Only...Yugi seemed to have no concerns about making friends the way Ryou did, even though he wore that pyramid....So he must be wrong.  He had no idea why the ring would point to Yugi, but for whatever reason, it wasn't because they were similar.

Ryou forced the thought away and focused on his notes with a single-mindedness that was almost ferocious.  It was an attempt to dull His interest in Ryou's life and surroundings right now.  After a few more moments, the Ring stopped pointing and lay inanimate in his hand.  Ryou held his breath, but by some great fortune, the spirit seemed to not have noticed that there had been any sort of change, now or then.

Ryou exhaled quietly, then slid the Ring's cord back over his neck and tucked it beneath his shirt.  He rarely wore the Ring out at school, after he'd been attacked twice by bullies who thought they could get a good price for it.  The spirit had had to step in both times to help him, and while it had seemed to enjoy taking the teenagers down, Ryou had started hiding the Ring to avoid trouble.

Once it was out of his sight, he felt marginally better, but he knew not to let his guard down.  The spirit could still get to him and read his thoughts, so long as he wore the Ring.  So he had to be careful. 

~~~~~

The rest of the school day had worn on just like any other, and the spirit hadn't spoken once.  In fact, Ryou couldn't recall it talking all day.

As he walked home, Ryou wished that he'd lost his mind sometime in the past year.  After all, spirits didn't constantly talk in people's heads and live inside jewelry, or beat and possess people who wore it.  Sane people, at least.  It was possible.

If he tried really hard, Ryou could almost convince himself that all the threats and bruises were some twisted form of self-punishment, that the blackouts were the result of a horrible psychosis he had.  Finding out he was just crazy would be much better than continuing to know that his current existence was for real.

Ryou abandoned those thoughts once he realized where they were leading, concentrating instead on the trees and pavement and any other general thing that was around him.  The spirit didn't like it when he tried to believe He wasn't real.

He didn't want it to be angry or mocking today--he needed Him to stay exactly like this: preoccupied or too bored to pay attention or asleep even, if that was possible, if it did sleep; Ryou didn't know.  He'd often found himself waking up, tired beyond belief, when all he could remember of the last evening was going to bed for the night--so he knew He must have taken control of his body.  Ryou was afraid to know what the spirit did with him, however.  Even though he hated being in the dark, he knew enough about its vicious nature to be afraid of what he might learn.  Sometimes he'd had to scrape dirt or dried blood out from under his fingernails in the morning.

But, at the same time, there were instances when its presence was just absent.  Like now, for example.  It could be possible that there were times when He slept, Ryou supposed; they just didn't coincide with his own.

He made his mind drift away, listening to a bird singing in the tree he was walking under.  Whatever was bringing this reprieve, he couldn't stir it up.  He had to make everything work today.

The idea had been around for a long time, drifting in the darkest part of his brain where coherent thought didn't exist, and maybe that was why He hadn't heard it and punished him for it yet.  It had taken a long time for Ryou to be willing to attempt it, and even longer to find a chance--he could only think during snatches of time when the spirit was inattentive.

Now the time had come, though, looming and somber before him, and in the face of it it almost seemed better to simply submit to Him, because fighting back would require this.

But he wouldn't allow himself to think those thoughts either, so instead he concentrated on the ordinary all around him, to prevent the spirit from noticing his thoughts and to keep himself from backing down, from giving up and giving in and being an unwilling slave to fear and shame the rest of his life.

Or however much life he was "given."  The spirit had made it clear that Ryou's life was at its mercy, and though he didn't understand the metaphysics of that statement, he did understand the pain.

_Mundane and simple thoughts_, he reminded himself. 

~~~~~

Ryou unlocked the front door and let himself into the house.  It didn't feel like a home yet--there were still a few boxes in the hall he and Father hadn't gotten around to unpacking yet.  He pushed the door shut behind him, blinking in the sudden gloom.  His father was away at a lecture for the evening, and the house felt that much more empty and bigger when he was alone.  

He toed off his shoes and trudged through the front hall, glancing reflexively at the mantle as he passed by.  A picture of his mother sat up there; one she'd given to Father back when they were still dating.  He missed her at times.

He snapped on the kitchen light and thought about making a snack.  As he walked to the fridge, he banged his knee against a chair.

"Oww," Ryou said, bending over to rub his injured limb.  The Ring slid out from his uniform and swung slightly in the air.  The fluorescent lighting flashed on its gold surface.

Even though he didn't want to, he still felt a stab of hatred toward his father while he stared at the ring, gleaming sickly in the light.  In some small way, his life as it was now was the fault of his father.  **He was the one who had picked up the Millennium Ring while on an archeological dig and brought it back to Ryou, saying he "was destined for it."  He wouldn't be suffering as he did now if it weren't for that destiny, Ryou thought bitterly.  **

Then he sighed.  _Be that as it may, he conceded, __Father can't be blamed.  He would never have bought the Ring if he had an idea of what it held._

The next thing Ryou knew, he could feel the spirit's presence growing at the back of his mind.  _No!_ he thought blindly.  _Please, no!  Don't ruin this!_

It paid him no heed.  Shut up, landlord.  You've done nothing but think nonsense all day, came His voice, laconic and hateful.  Ryou gripped the counter and bent his head, hoping to simply ride this out and be done with it.

There's no point in whining about your fate, He continued.  You can't get rid of me.

This was true, Ryou knew.  He could remove the Ring at times, like he had briefly at school, but the one time he had thought about throwing it away, the spirit had taken over before he could do anything and locked him in his soul room for a week.  When he was allowed to resume to control, it was to find that his grades had plummeted, his friends weren't talking to him, and his father had grounded him for the rest of the month.  

He hadn't tried anything after that.

It knew Ryou was thinking about that particular incident--he'd long ago learned it could read his mind, or something similar.  Exactly, the voice in his head said smugly.  So accept your lot.  Believe me, I had no desire to be chained to **you....**

For a horrible moment, Ryou held his breath, afraid He would remain all night and everything be lost.  Now keep the Ring on and shut up, the harsh voice finished.

Ryou clenched his fist.  If he couldn't take the Ring off, it would be almost impossible to make this work....

He could feel its impatience growing.  He hesitated for a second, then let go of the counter and grasped the Ring, tucking it back inside his sweater.  It felt heavier than ever.  

After that, the spirit seemed to have no interest in him any longer, and drifted away back to the Ring or wherever it was He went when not tormenting him.

Ryou stared blankly down at the floor for a minute, and then opened the fridge, beginning to make himself a sandwich. 

~~~~~

The rest of the day passed like any other.  It was now after sunset, and his father still hadn't returned.  _Probably for the best, he thought as he turned off the television and stood up from the couch.  __Better to not have any distractions.  But he still felt a pang of fear when he thought about how cold and dark the house was.  _

_I'll be all alone_, he realized.  _But that's what I want.  That's why I'm doing this._

To confuse the spirit to the meaning of his thoughts, Ryou sat down at the kitchen table and began working on his math.

After he'd done two problems, he yawned, stood up, and left the kitchen, heading for the staircase.  His original plan had been to leave the Ring on his desk when he went to take his shower so the spirit wouldn't be able to reach him.  It wouldn't have been suspicious, because he never showered with it on whenever possible--he hated the feel of the cold metal against his bare skin.  The Ring never seemed to get warm, no matter what.  But now he had a direct order not to take it off. 

Inside his room, Ryou pulled off his sweater and folded it over the chair beside his desk.  He lifted the Ring's cord, but decided it was too risky.  He would have to be fast, then--there was no other option.  He removed his socks, too, and threw them onto the chair as well before walking toward the bathroom. 

~~~~~

He had taken the razor from his father's bathroom that morning so he wouldn't have to consciously think about anything when the time was crucial.

Now he removed the blade mechanically, his mind not on what he was doing but rather on the basketball game Joey and Tristan had gotten together with some of the boys and girls in their class during lunch.  He turned the water on hot and almost smiled as he remembered Tea yelling at Joey for peeking up the girls' skirts whenever one of them shot the ball.

Ryou held his first wrist under the faucet, wincing when the hot water scalded his flesh.  _Cold might have been a better choice, to numb the pain, he reflected, but he knew he wouldn't have much time once the spirit realized what was happening, and he hoped the hot water would make the blood run faster._

Ryou held the blade above his wrist for a second, centering it on the largest vein, then clenched his teeth and drove it down.

The sudden, intense pain made him scream, and he lost his hold on the razor.  It clattered into the sink, an inch away from the drain.  Ryou grabbed his wrist reflexively, then braced his elbows on the counter when he felt his knees trying to buckle.  He'd hoped it wouldn't be this bad....

Then, with nauseating horror, he realized that the spirit had sensed what he was doing, and was coming to stop him.

_No_, he thought, _I won't let you take this from me.  Ryou groped in the sink for the razor, nicking his fingers in the process.  The water and the blood on his hand made the blade slippery, and he almost dropped it again as he brought it back up to his wrist._

Ryou jammed the blade back into his arm, crying out once more in agony but managing to keep his grip this time.

What the hell are you doing?! the spirit shouted inside his head as it began to take over his body.  

Ryou bit his lip and fought its assault, even managing to drag the razor upwards a little and tear open more of his flesh.  But he was rapidly losing the battle against Him and the pain.

"No!" he cried futilely, blacking out as the spirit forced itself into control.  The last thing he heard was the razor falling to the floor. 

~~~~~

When he woke up again, he felt dizzy, his throat was dry and it was hard to open his eyes.  The Ring was heavy on his chest.

"Ryou?" said a quiet, nervous voice from far away.  He was being shaken.

He knew the voice: it was his father.  That meant...

Ryou managed to force his eyes open.  He was lying on the bed in his room, with his father standing over him, looking concerned.

...he had failed.  He was alive.

Ryou closed his eyes again in defeat.

A large, warm hand placed itself over his forehead.  "Son, are you all right?  What happened to your wrist?" his father asked.

Ryou lifted his arm slightly and looked.  His wrist was neatly bandaged, and there was no sign of blood anywhere.  Even his shirt had been changed.  For a moment, Ryou was surprised that the spirit had gone to such efforts to clean him up--it had never seemed to care about him before.

"Nothing," he answered.  "I accidentally cut myself."  He didn't know if it had also cleaned up the bathroom, so he just lay back and avoided his father's eyes.

The elder Bakura looked even more grave.  "Do I need to take you to a doctor?  I think you need a tetanus shot."

Ryou shook his head.  "No, Father, I'm fine.  I just lost a little blood, so I decided to take a nap."  There used to be a time when he couldn't lie off the top of his head like this, he recalled regretfully.

His father remained unconvinced.  "Stay here, then, and I'll get you some juice.  And tomorrow, you're going to the doctor."  He straightened up and left the room.  Ryou could hear his footsteps on the stairs.

He closed his eyes and leaned back against the pillow.  The weight on his chest was pressing him into the mattress.  He touched the cold metal of the Ring and thought: _it didn't work_.  It might have been his only chance at freedom, and he had bungled it horribly.

A weight settled on the edge of the mattress.  He hadn't heard his father coming back up the stairs....

Ryou opened his eyes.  A transparent image of the spirit was there, sitting on the bed, looking so much like him and yet different.  He froze.

"I'm not surprised," He said, reading his thoughts.  "You aren't strong enough to have gone through with it.  You coward--couldn't even kill yourself without screaming," it mocked, staring down at Ryou like an annoying insect. 

There were footsteps on the stairs again.  His father was coming...no! Was the spirit visible to anyone else?  His father couldn't see this!  What would it do to him if it were found out?  Ryou desperately wanted to stand up, run and lock the door and protect his father from this...this evil across from him, but he couldn't move.

It smirked at him, then glanced to the door.  The footsteps were approaching.

Ryou shot Him a terrified look.  "Please, go!" he begged, not caring if it would get him into even more trouble.  "Stay away from him!"

The spirit gave him a cold look.  "You're pleading for the same person you hated a few hours ago."  He snorted, clearly thinking less of Ryou for his compassion.  Then it braced a hand on the bed and leaned forward, still glaring at him.  "You're going to pay for this act, you little fool," He said quietly.  "You won't dare **anything once ****I'm done."  Then, thankfully, it disappeared.**

Ryou struggled to calm his pounding heart, but he couldn't.  The spirit petrified him, and he was already imagining what would happen to him for this.  It had to keep him alive, he knew, so that it would have a body, but it didn't seem to care if his mind wasn't in healthy condition.  Ryou bit his lip and forced his face into passivity as his father walked in.

"Here's your juice," he said, setting the glass down beside the bed.  "Get some rest."  He patted Ryou on the head twice, then left again, turning out the light as he went.

Frightened and exhausted, Ryou watched the moonlight creeping in from his window play on the glass.  The Ring weighed upon his chest, making it harder to breathe.  He felt hollow.  

After some time had passed, Ryou fell asleep rubbing the bandage on his wrist. 

~~~~~

That had been a few weeks ago.  Now, he waited until the security guards had finished their rounds of this section of the ship before sneaking out of his hiding place and walking down the corridor.

He pushed open the heavy door, wincing slightly at the sharp pain in his wrist.  Despite the shoddy job he'd done, he'd still cut deep.  He'd managed to keep the doctor from examining his wrist, mainly because he didn't want to worry his father, but in doing so it had taken his arm longer to heal.  If he put too much weight on it sometimes, it would hurt again.

Ryou walked out to the railing and took a deep breath of the sea air.  The salt breeze tasted good on the back of his throat, but it also reminded him that he hadn't had much to eat today.  He deliberated on whether sneaking into the ship's kitchen for a meal would be worth the risk.  He didn't want to think of what the spirit would do if he were thrown off the boat.

He didn't know why he was on board this ship to the Duelist Kingdom.  He'd heard all about it at school--Yugi had been selected as a contestant--but when he'd arrived home that afternoon, the spirit had taken him over before he could even kick his shoes off.

When he'd been returned to his body, his deck was in his pocket and he was in a cramped, fishy-smelling closet.

If you get caught, you'll wish you managed to kill yourself, He had hissed at him, before falling strangely quiet.  The quiet itself hadn't been strange--the spirit often used silence against him whenever Ryou severely angered it, pretending to withdraw and give him some peace before suddenly attacking.  Doing that left Ryou always waiting and jumping at every little noise, so he was a mental wreck before it even touched him.  The silence had been strange because He didn't seem angry this time, but rather waiting.  Studying.

Sighing, Ryou took another breath before pushing away from the rail.  It wasn't safe to be out here--a guard could see him, and then what?  He wouldn't put it past the spirit to kill, throwing the body overboard before removing all traces of having done anything.  He shuddered, not sure if the thought or the fact that he could almost picture it sickened him more.

There was a noise in the crates at the far end of the deck.  Ryou jerked in surprise, then turned, brushing his hair over his face to hide it, and walked back to the door as quickly as could look natural.  He got inside without any trouble, and crept back into the closet.  Any thought of food had been abandoned.

~~~~~

He managed to escape the ship on his own, hiding in one of the crates.  After he was safely out of sight of the cruiser and the guards surrounding it, he stopped walking and leaned against a tree.  All the other duelists were heading for a large staircase leading up to Pegasus' castle, but Ryou wasn't certain it was safe to follow.  He watched as dozens of people made their way toward the castle.

"Now what?" he asked, mainly to himself.

I have a special use for you, landlord the spirit answered, startling Ryou.

He felt the spirit's presence again, but this time it was different.  He wasn't being forced into unconsciousness....

...he was being removed!  Ryou tried to fight the pull, but he had no idea how.  The world blurred slightly, then faded into a strange blue-gray mist.

He had a brief sensation of floating, before the darkness took him over.


	2. Cause and Effect

Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! belongs to Kazuki Takahashi. "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" belongs to Samuel Taylor Coleridge.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The soft sound of feet treading the ground woke Yugi up.  

He pushed himself onto his elbows and stared drowsily at the surrounding area, trying to figure out if it was worth waking the others.  That Eliminator he'd fought for Mai had said there were more like him roaming the island, and though Yugi was confidant in his dueling skills, a midnight battle all alone wasn't something he was really looking forward to.

There was a movement over to his right, and Yugi sat all the way up.  He narrowed his eyes, trying to make out the shape in the moon's light.  Their campfire had burned out earlier.

There was a small clearing up ahead, on the edge of the island's cliffs, so the low roar of the ocean could be heard over the noise of the owls and crickets.  As his eyes adjusted, Yugi saw Bakura stretched out on the grass, staring up at the sky.  The smaller teen stood up and walked over.

"Hey, Bakura," he said.  "Couldn't sleep?"

"No," he answered, sounding a little distant.

Yugi sat down, giving Bakura a concerned look.  "Is everything okay?"

"I...I guess not," the other teen answered.  "It doesn't seem real yet."  

Yugi gave him a confused frown.

"That it's gone," Bakura clarified.  "It's...just....I keep expecting it to appear at any instant, even angrier than before."

Yugi sat down next to him.  "You don't have to worry, though.  He was sent off to the graveyard.  The Reaper of Cards **must have got him by now."**

Bakura stared back up at the stars.  "Oh, Yugi," he said a moment later.

"Yes?"

"Between Panik and the rest of today, I never got a chance to thank you," Bakura said, turning to look at him.  "For sealing...him away in the Shadow Realm."

Yugi shook his head.  "It wasn't really me," he said.  "It was my Puzzle."

Bakura shook his head in response.  "But it was your attack that sent him to the graveyard.  I really can't apologize enough to you and the others.  If you hadn't managed to pull him out of my body...I could have killed you all."

"You also managed to stop his attack," Yugi felt it was only fair to mention.  "That was brave, Bakura."

Bakura sat up and ran a hand through his hair, absent-mindedly picking out a blade of grass.  "'Brave' would have been getting rid of that Ring long ago, no matter what," he said quietly, shredding the blade.

Yugi was about to ask what he meant by that, when he noticed the sleeve of Bakura's sweater had ridden up, revealing an ugly scar on his wrist.  "What happened to you?!"

Bakura immediately jerked the sleeve down and stared at the ground, silent.  Yugi began to feel nervous, worried that he had over-stepped his bounds.  "I'm sorry," he began, "it's none of my business."

There was an uncomfortable pause.  "...I tried to kill myself," Bakura said quietly.

For a second, Yugi was shocked, unable to believe his ears.  "You...."  He trailed off as the boy drew his legs up, continuing to stare at the ground.  "Bakura..." he placed a hand on the white-haired teen's shoulder.  "You're safe now.  He's gone."

"But it doesn't feel like it.  Yet." Bakura shot him a grateful look to soften his words.

Yugi kept his hand on Bakura's shoulder a moment longer, before removing it.  "I promise."  

Then the English boy jerked suddenly and stared down at his chest.  Yugi noticed a faint golden glow emanating beneath his sweater.  Bakura slipped the cord of the Millennium Ring over his head, pulling it out.  They stared.

"Bakura, am I seeing things, or is your Millennium Ring actually **glowing**?" Yugi asked.

"If it's not, then we're both hallucinating," he answered.

"That's kinda spooky, don't you think?  The way it's pointing like that?" Yugi asked.

"Yes," Bakura answered.  "It's almost like it's being tugged toward the castle."  He looked up and across the distance, where the stone structure lay.

"Pegasus' castle," Yugi mused.  "Why would it do that?"

"I don't know, but it did the same thing the day I first met you.  I had just been transferred into your school," Bakura said.  "I was watching you guys play Duel Monsters, when suddenly my Ring started to glow, and pointed right towards your Millennium Puzzle!"

A piece of the mystery clicked in Yugi's mind.  "Wow, Bakura.  Those pointers are somehow able to zone in on the other Millennium Items!" he said excitedly.

Bakura frowned at it.  "But then why would it point toward the castle?" he asked.

"Because of what's in**side** the castle," Yugi answered.  "Pegasus' Millennium Eye!  That's what took my Grandpa's soul," he added.

Bakura shook his head.  "My, it's all a bit scary, 'ey Yugi?  Pegasus grabbing souls with his; and I'll never forget when mine took our souls to the Shadow Realm," his voice trailed off.

"Mm," Yugi nodded.  The two boys continued staring, and after a few more moments the pointer ceased glowing and dangled loosely from the Ring once more. Bakura hung the Ring back around his neck and slipped it beneath his sweater again.

The two of them sat quietly for a while, with only the animals and the ocean making noise.  

Yugi was beginning to feel slightly sleepy when Bakura shifted again, before asking, "What's yours like?  Your spirit."

Yugi chewed his lip as he thought about that.  He'd felt a sort of presence within him before after he'd solved the Puzzle, especially when he played Duel Monsters, but to call it a spirit....

Although, after that battle with Bakura--the evil Bakura--it seemed that there was indeed someone else inside him, or the Puzzle, or both.

Yugi had never pictured anything quite like that before, and it was a little disconcerting.

"Confidant, I guess," he said finally.  "And strong.  And really good at Duel Monsters."

"So was mine," Bakura mused.  "I wonder if there's any sort of connection between the two...."  He propped his chin in his hand, thinking.

"You told me that the man who sold your father that Ring said it had to do with Duel Monsters, right?" Yugi asked, feeling another piece of a mystery gigantic in scope starting to tug at his brain.

"Mm-hmm," Bakura agreed.  "That's why it was so strange."

After a pause, Yugi asked: "Was yours really that bad?"  _Trying to steal all the Millennium Items is pretty awful_, he thought, _but to drive someone to suicide, especially someone as gentle as Bakura...._

Bakura nodded.  "Yours isn't?"

Yugi shook his head slowly.  "No, I don't think so," he trailed off.  "I've never felt anything bad about him before."

"I could never keep track of what mine did," Bakura said with unanticipated bitterness.  "He just took over when it pleased him, and I had to figure out what might have happened once I woke up again.  Eventually, it was no longer worth the effort."

Yugi narrowed his eyes, staring past the trees.  "Woke up..." he repeated, though he had an idea what Bakura was talking about.  There had been several times when problems of his had taken care of themselves--like the mugger he'd fought for Tea.  She swore he'd beaten him, and something had obviously happened to knock the man out, but Yugi **knew** he had been unconscious until after the thug was down.

But if Bakura's story was anything to go on, he very well could have been unconscious and still been fighting....

If his first thoughts had been disconcerting, these were downright frightening.  Yugi lay back against the grass, pondering what all this could mean.  

After a while, he wanted to ask Bakura if his spirit had ever said anything about the Items, but when he turned to look at him, the other teen had curled up and fallen asleep.

Yugi folded his arms beneath his head and gazed up at the moon.  _Why is it the more involved I get with Pegasus and this whole tournament, the more it all seems to be connected to these Millennium Items?_ he wondered.  _First there was Pegasus' Millennium Eye, and now Bakura's Millennium Ring; and of course, **my** Millennium Item...._

He frowned at the night sky.  _Ever since I first solved that ancient puzzle, playing Duel Monsters has never been the same.  Now, every time I duel, I can feel this strong, courageous presence within me.  And whatever that spirit is, I pray it will help me save my grandpa.  He shut his eyes briefly.__  I miss him.  I miss him so much._

Yugi picked up the Puzzle, staring at it for a minute.  _Bakura has had it so rough with his spirit, but I **know** mine is different.  I have to trust him_, he decided.  "Please help me," he asked, hoping it would hear him.

There was a pause, and then the quiet of the night was broken by the sound of helicopter blades.


	3. No Difference

Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! belongs to Kazuki Takahashi.

I'm using 'Ryou' as Bakura's first name, so when the story calls him that, it's his POV. When he's 'Bakura' it's Yugi's.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Surrender, Yugi," Kaiba said to him.  "That is, unless you have the courage to unleash your attack!"

Yugi stared at him in horror.  _How can you call that courage, Kaiba? he wanted to ask._

I must, the spirit thought.

_I can't!_ Yugi replied.

**We must, it said.**

_NO!  It's not right!_ Yugi insisted.  An image of his Grandpa calling for him flickered across his--their--mind.  _There must be another way!_

There isn't, it replied with a tone of finality that was almost saddened.

"Kaiba, I've never backed away before--and I'm not starting now!" the spirit shouted, using his mouth but not his words.  "Celtic Guardian, attack!"

As the monster began its charge, Tea started running in his direction, calling to him.  "Yugi!  You can't!  You can't take this risk!  Call him back!"

Kaiba simply stood there, refusing to step down.  _He's going to die!_ Yugi thought frantically.  _Our attack--it'll...._

Tea was still running towards him, trying to reach him in time.  "Yugi, you can't do this!  You can't!  This isn't like you!"

_This isn't me,_ he thought.  _Tea, this isn't who I am!_

Doesn't she understand? the spirit thought.  Yugi couldn't tell if it was talking to him or itself.

"You've gotta stop!" Tea begged.  "**Yugi**!"

_She's right!  We can't do this!_  Yugi fell to his knees as he tried to reclaim his body.  It wasn't until now that he realized how much freedom he had given this presence--he was barely there in more than thought.  The spirit stood firm against him for a second, and he could feel it's unwillingness to lose this battle.  Then it slipped away.  

"Stop!" Yugi screamed, terrified that he was too late.  On the wall, the Celtic Guardian drew to a halt, a mere few feet from the dying Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon.

Tea stood frozen in front of him.  Beyond her, he could hear Kaiba ordering the Dragon to attack.  There was a roar, and then the scanner he wore indicated his remaining life points had been depleted.  The spirit stirred inside him as the counter hit zero, but it stayed away.

_How could I have ever thought I could trust it?_ he wondered hollowly.  _Even after what Bakura told me about his, I didn't believe that this one was like it.  But there's no difference between them; they'll both do anything for their goals.  Even...murder...._Yugi could feel himself crying, though he didn't want to.

The rest of his friends were calling to him, and a moment later he was surrounded by more pairs of feet.  Bakura was there, he could feel.

"I almost couldn't control it," he said, unable to move enough to even look at the other boy, "this other presence deep inside me."  He squeezed his eyes shut, more tears beginning to leak out as he remembered how it had been ready to trade someone's life for a victory.  "It was willing to go all the way against Kaiba!" he cried out.

"Anudder presence?" Joey asked.  "Inside you?"

"Whadda ya mean?" Tristan asked.  "What the heck are ya talkin' about, buddy?"

Gratefully, Yugi heard Bakura explaining things.  "Like me, Yugi has some sort of ancient spirit living inside him.  It has...."  Bakura's words drifted away in his mind as the statement sunk in.  _Living inside me.__  This...this monster...is a part of me._

Then he remembered.  _Bakura said these items had something to do with Duel Monsters.  If that's true, then I'll stop it!  Now!_

"I'm afraid of this spirit," he told them, his voice shaking.  "So afraid, that I'll never duel again!"

Tea sunk down to her knees so she could face him.  She was crying too, he saw.  "I'm sorry, Yugi," she said.  "Sorry about your grandpa; but you did the right thing."  He looked up at her.  "You couldn't have harmed another person, not even to save him.  He wouldn't want to be saved that way."

_I failed him,_ he wanted to say, but the words wouldn't come out.  _I don't know how to rescue him now._

Across the roof, Kaiba said something, and it caused Tea to jump up.  "He spared you!" she yelled.  Yugi's head jerked up, and he stared at her and Kaiba, who had stepped down from the wall.

_He's safe,_ Yugi thought, unable to feel relieved.  He was dimly aware of Tea and Kaiba arguing, but he didn't pay attention.  _But Grandpa is still gone...I'm sorry.  I didn't have any other choice._

The spirit inside him stirred again, and Yugi was afraid it would try to come back again.  He shuddered.  There was a pause, and it disappeared completely.

Bakura knelt down next to Yugi and placed a hand on his shoulder.  The shorter teen clasped his hand, but still never looked up from the ground.  Joey was yelling something, but he couldn't hear the words.  They all ran together.

"I can't believe I was so stupid, Bakura," Yugi whispered.  "I thought he was better.  I trusted it to help me."

Bakura squeezed his shoulder.  "It'll be okay, Yugi.  We'll still save your grandfather."

Yugi shook his head violently.  "No!  No, Bakura," he said, finally sitting back and staring at the white-haired teen.  "I'm never. dueling. again.  If there **is** some connection between the Millennium Items and Duel Monsters, it's the only way to make sure he doesn't get free."  Then he remembered what Bakura had confessed about his spirit, and he moved so he was no longer covering Bakura's hand, but his wrist.

"Is that enough, though?" Yugi asked, wide-eyed.

"Yes!" Bakura answered forcefully, cutting Yugi off.  "Yes!  Don't try it, Yugi.  It won't work; and you have so much more to lose."

Joey had knelt down beside them by now, and he was giving Bakura a strange look.  "What're you two talking about?" he asked, struggling to make his voice soft.  He clearly had no clue how to help Yugi here.  Tea and Tristan were both standing a little further away, looking equally lost.

Bakura glanced down at the ground, but didn't answer.  There was silence for a time, and then Joey shook his head.  "Well then, I'll get the star chips back for ya.  I owe you big time, Yug'."  He stood up and glanced around the castle walls.  "Alright, where's someone ta duel?"

Yugi shook his head.  "No, Joey.  You can't risk your sister for me."

Joey crouched down again.  "Yugi, if it weren't for you, Serenity wouldn't even have th' chance she's got now.  And I promised I'd help you."

Yugi looked up at him.  "Even if I had the star chips, they'd be useless.  I wouldn't duel if I did get into the castle.  I won't risk any more lives!"

"But if you don't duel," Tristan said quietly, "then your grandpa's gone.  Forever."

Yugi squeezed his eyes shut and bent his head, unable to look at any of them, even Bakura, who was still holding his shoulder.  "I know."  _I know...Grandpa, I'm so sorry...but I'm afraid of what this thing might do.  I'm afraid to let it free anymore.  Please...please forgive me...._

Tea yanked on Tristan's coat sleeve, glaring at him.

"Hey!  You brats!" came a harsh, authoritative sounding voice.  "If you don't have ten star chips, you have to get off the castle walls!"  One of Pegasus' security guards came into view.

Joey stood up.  "Hey, I got the ten," he said, holding up his glove.  "So back off, man."

The guard crossed his arms.  "And the rest of you?"

"We're going," Tea said.  She gave Joey a look.

"What?!" he demanded.  "We don't--"

"Ah, Joey?" Bakura quietly interrupted.  "You're the only one.  Most of us don't even have gloves.  We'd better not argue."

"Oh.  Right," Joey answered, quieter.  He held out a hand, and with Bakura's help got Yugi up and walking.


	4. A False Reality

Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! belongs to Kazuki Takahashi.

After an argument with the on the difference between a "manly bonding story with mystical items" (my term) and a "story about touchy boy love" (her term), it was decided that this fic has shounen-ai subtext. Just so's ya know.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ryou shivered and wrapped his arms around himself as another gust of wind rocked him on his feet.  It was far too cold up here on the battlements of the castle--especially since it had been mildly warm the past few days on the island.

As he took a step forward, trying to find a place that would shelter him from the wind, something crunched under his foot.  Ryou glanced down.  Gold glimmered on the stones; pieces of the broken Millennium Puzzle lying scattered and abandoned.

_Yugi! he thought, glancing about blindly for the teen.  He had seemed to be back to himself after Tea had dueled Mai, but...._

The spirit had taken him over again right after Kaiba's loss to Pegasus.  And now the Puzzle had been taken apart. _ Yugi...wouldn't have been driven back into his earlier despair by that, right? he thought with a sickening feeling._

Ryou hugged himself a little tighter at the memory of the duel.  When Yugi had mentioned Pegasus' Millennium Eye, something cold tickled the back of his neck.  He didn't understand the reaction, but he hadn't liked it.

Further down, a shape against the moonlight caught his eye, and Ryou half-ran to the edge of the castle's walls.

Yugi stood there, clutching the battlement and staring at the island below.  His expression was utterly defeated.  Ryou felt his stomach clench.

"Yugi..." he whispered.  The smaller boy didn't turn, but his shoulders tensed.

"Bakura," he said.  Ryou took a step forward, standing to Yugi's left.

"It's me," he assured.  For some reason, he needed to make sure Yugi knew it was **him**, not anything else.  "We have to go inside.  It's freezing out here."  He placed a hand on Yugi's arm.

The boy was burning up, so much so that Ryou drew his hand back.  "I can't go back in there," Yugi said to him.  "I can't ever go back."

"Don't be ridiculous, Yugi," he said.  "You can't stay out here.  You'll get sick."

He could see the corner of Yugi's mouth curl up, and the horrible expression on that normally happy face made Ryou shiver more than the cold.  "That would take too long," he said quietly.  "I'm not sure I could stop it like that."

The clenching in his stomach had turned to a knot and nausea.  "Yugi, please.  Get away from here.  You can't do this."

Yugi finally turned to face him, and the look on his face was no longer bitter, but calm.  "Yes, I can.  I have to, Bakura.  You understand, even if the others won't."

His wrist began to ache again.  He grabbed Yugi's arm, ignoring the heat boiling off of him.  "No, Yugi.  You're stronger than I am.  You can fight!"

Yugi shook his head, but didn't try to remove Ryou's hand.  "No, I really can't.  I tried, but it didn't work.  I said I'd never duel again, but then...after Tea fought so hard for me...I thought that it wouldn't matter.  That I could control it long enough to get my Grandpa back.  But you saw what happened in the castle.  It was still there.  It'll always be there.  They live inside us, you said so yourself."

Another blast of wind rushed across the roof, cutting through Ryou's thin shirt and making Yugi sway on his feet.  Ryou gripped his arm tighter, words failing him at the moment he needed them the most.  "Please don't, Yugi.  You broke the Puzzle.  That has to be the end of it.  Think about Joey!  He may be getting better, but he needs your support!  And Tea and Tristan and me--are you going to leave us?"  He stared at Yugi's calm face, growing more desperate with each second.  "Are you really going to abandon your grandfather to Pegasus?"

Yugi looked down at that, and the tension in Ryou's chest began to ease.  Maybe he could do something useful after all.

When Yugi looked up, tears were beginning to brim in his eyes, but that horridly calm look was still on his face.  "I'm sorry," he said.  "I wanted to save him so much.  But I can't do it with this evil inside me.  I have to get rid of it now, before it hurts anyone else."  He tugged on his arm, trying to get free.

Ryou held as tightly as he could.  "Don't do this, Yugi," he pleaded.  "You're the first friend I've had in so long.  I don't want to lose you."

"But you **understand," Yugi persisted, looking him at him straight.**

Ryou had to shut his eyes.  He did understand, that was the worst of it.  He knew what was driving Yugi, even if their motives were different.  Even while he wanted to drag the teen away from the wall and back inside where it was safe and warm, another part of him was whispering to let him go, let him dive over and rid the world of another monster that hid in these golden objects.  He felt shamed slightly, that he had been acting from a purely selfish desire to be free, while Yugi wanted to protect the others.  

While all this was going through his mind, the boy had managed to break out of his grasp and climb up onto the edge of the wall.

"Don't jump, Yugi," he asked, his voice hollow in the chill air.  "I don't want you to go."

Yugi gave him a look, part sympathy and part sorrow.  "Goodbye, Bakura."

Ryou lunged for him, but the boy had already jumped.  "Yugi!" he screamed, staring over the wall of the castle into the shadows.  The forest below obscured his view, but he could picture the body, broken and twisted on the hard ground below.

Ryou collapsed to his knees, mindlessly clutching the battlement.  It took all his strength not to throw up on the cold stone.  _Why him?!_ he thought wildly.  _Why not me?  Why did Yugi's spirit save me and do nothing for him?_  He squeezed his eyes shut, tears beginning to leak out.  _Why didn't I manage to save him?_

"Because you're useless, landlord," a familiar voice answered, and Ryou's eyes shot open in terror.  The spirit--**his spirit--was standing there, the arrogantly angry smirk on his face as always.**

"N-no," he whispered.  "You're..."

The spirit lunged forward and gripped Ryou's arm harshly.  "**This didn't stop me," he hissed.  "Why did you think some mere Pharaoh's trick would?"**

_Pharaoh? Ryou thought disjointedly, staring wide-eyed at his wrist.  The wound had opened again, and blood was dripping down his arm, wet and sticky and still so cold.  Yugi's death had turned him to ice._

The spirit simply looked down at him, a twisted smirk playing on its lips.

~~~~~

Ryou woke up, damp with sweat and gasping for breath.  His hands immediately flew to his chest, where the Millennium Ring lay, cold as ever even though he was too hot.  He sat up, wrenching the cord over his neck, and dropped it at the foot of the bed.  He just sat there for a minute, struggling to calm his breathing.  _Dreaming, I was dreaming, he repeated.__  Yugi's alive.  Everything's okay._

There was something else tugging at his mind, the memory of...another dream?  Something about Tristan and Tea....

Then he saw his hands.  There was dirt on them, in the cracks and under the nails.  And...his palms burned.

_Oh, no...he thought.  Ryou flung aside the covers in the guest room Pegasus had furnished and ran out.  It wasn't until he'd knocked at the door to Yugi's room that he realized he was still barefoot, the way he'd been sleeping._

There was no sound in the bedroom for a time, and Ryou was about to run to Joey and have him help search the grounds when the door opened.  A very tired-looking Yugi stood there, whole and alive.  Ryou restrained the urge to throw his arms around the boy to make sure that he was real.

"Bakura?" Yugi asked sleepily.  "What're you doing up?"

"I...I had a bad dream," he answered, hiding his hands behind his back out of habit.  "I was afraid it was true.  I'm sorry to wake you."

Yugi shook his head, trying to stifle a yawn and failing.  "That's okay, I was having this really weird dream..." he said.  "I think I'm glad you woke me up, actually."

Ryou fidgeted, hyperaware of the fact that it was almost morning, he was in the middle of a castle corridor, and Yugi looked ready to fall asleep on his feet.  "I'm sorry," he apologized again.  "I'll let you get back to bed."

Yugi nodded and yawned again.  "'Night, Bakura," he said.  As Ryou turned, he added with simple curiosity, "Oh.  What did you dream?"

Ryou stared down at the floor.  His feet looked very pale against the dark stone.  "I...dreamed you died," he said quietly.  "You broke the Puzzle and jumped off the castle and I couldn't stop you in time."

Yugi blinked several times, and the sleepiness in his eyes fell away.  He reached out and touched Ryou's arm.  "I'm **fine**," he said, voice full of conviction.  Ryou looked up at his eyes.  "I promise, I'm okay now.  You don't have to worry."  He frowned.  "Was that all?"

Ryou paused, then shook his head.  "The spirit was back," he said, even quieter.

Yugi's eyes were warm and full of comfort, and it made the dream worth it just to see that look meant for him.  "Do you want to sleep in here tonight?" he asked.  "I don't snore," he added with a sleepy grin.

Ryou smiled back.  He really didn't want to be alone in his room in this giant fortress that belonged to a madman, after the shaking thought that his spirit might not really be dead after all.  He'd rather be curled up in a blanket in Yugi's room, warm and protected.  _And maybe, he thought, __while I'm gone someone will steal the Ring from my room.  Let **them be cursed.  Then he felt ashamed for thinking that, and took it back.**_

Ryou was about to accept Yugi's offer, when he remembered his hands.  There was still dirt--at least, he hoped it was dirt, it was too dark to tell--on them, from something.  "Thank you, Yugi, but I'll be fine."

The teen frowned at him again.  "Are you sure, Bakura?"  Ryou nodded.  "I can walk you back, if you want."

"No, you need to get to sleep," Ryou said.  "You have all that dueling tomorrow."

Yugi nodded in agreement and yawned for the third time, this one ending in something like a squeak.  He blushed as Ryou smiled.  "Night, then."

"Good night, Yugi."  _At least the dream was wrong about you, he thought with relief.  He turned and began walking back to his room, starting to shiver in cool air of the castle.  Once he was around the corner, he heard Yugi's door close._

After Ryou got back to his room, he spent the next half-hour scrubbing his hands.  When they were clean, he crawled back under the covers and fell into an exhausted, dreamless sleep.

The Ring still lay at the foot of the bed, gleaming slightly in the gloom.


	5. Once Again

Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! belongs to Kazuki Takahashi.

Thank you very much to everyone who's reviewed this story. I appreciate it.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ryou glanced around his room in the castle, trying to remember if there was anything he'd left behind.  He doubted that possibility, since he'd shown up with nothing but the clothes on his back and his deck, but double-checking his surroundings had become a force of habit.

When nothing seemed amiss, he picked up the pouch holding his deck from the chair he'd left it on, and started for the door.  Then he noticed that his shoe was untied.

Ryou sighed.  He could triple-knot those stupid sneakers, and they still would come loose.  He was cursed, he knew it.

As he bent down to retie the laces, he let the pouch fall to the floor.  It clinked.

Ryou froze.

He crouched and stared at the bag, which as of 24 hours ago had been holding nothing but a stack of paper cards.  When he looked at it closer, he realized that the fabric was slightly misshapen for a rectangular deck.  It hadn't looked like that last night.

Last night...last night he'd gone to bed around ten o'clock, had a nightmare, and spoken to Yugi at about four in the morning.  He hadn't touched his deck since after dinner, when he'd set it down to go to sleep.  And it hadn't clinked then.  So there was no reason it should be clinking now.

But last night he'd woken up with grit under his nails--again--straight after the nightmare where his spirit had been alive and whole.

Ryou shivered, but picked up the bag and loosened the strings, emptying it onto the smooth stone floor.  The cards of his deck scattered across the ground, and in the middle of them fell a gore-encrusted object.

_No, he thought slowly.  __It can't be.  There's no way...._

He picked up the filthy item, noting its round shape and solid weight without believing.  He rubbed its surface with his thumb, and the tell-tale gleam of gold winked up at him.

Ryou found himself unable to blink, unable to do anything but stare at the Item in his hand, and his mind snapped back to that a few minutes ago, when Croquet had told them that Pegasus was "ill."  _Oh, please...it can't be true!_

He blinked back tears, then suddenly reached for the Ring's cord around his neck.  _I'll throw it into the fire as we leave, both of them, and it'll be over! he thought desperately.  But as soon as he'd grasped the cord, a voice behind him said, "Don't try it."_

Ryou jerked around, and his dream had been right, the spirit was there, anger and contempt in its immaterial eyes as always.  "You killed him!" he shouted before he could think.  "How could...."

His voice trailed off as something pulled inside him, and as Ryou watched the spirit grew more solid.  Ryou stared in disbelief, not noticing the glow coming from the Eye in his hand or the Ring hidden beneath his shirt.

The slap almost knocked him over, but he managed to catch himself and wound up sitting rather gracelessly on the ground, still staring wide-eyed up at the cold spirit.  The Eye bounced out of his hand and rolled slightly across the floor.

"Shut up, idiot!" He hissed, glaring down at Ryou.  "Unless **you** want to explain to the guards why you're carrying the murdered Pegasus' eye," it continued.

_Murdered....Ryou held a hand to his cheek, feeling everything inside him go numb.  _

_It couldn't last, he thought dully.  _But I didn't realize it would return like this.  I thought....__

He didn't know what he'd thought.  That Yugi really could help him, maybe.

He returned to reality when the spirit gripped his chin harshly, forcing him to focus on it.  "Now get up and move.  If I can separate Yugi from his little court before they reach the boat, it'll go much faster."

He glanced down at the stained Eye.  _Yugi...._

"No," Ryou said quietly, not looking Him in the eyes.

The grip on his jaw tightened, and the spirit's voice was several degrees colder this time.  "I said--"

"**No!" Ryou cried out.  "I won't help you kill him!  I won't help you kill anyone!"**

The hand let go of his face, and for a second Ryou was confused.  Then it grabbed his arm and jerked him onto his feet, twisting his arm behind his back as it did.  Ryou cried out in pain as his shoulder stretched painfully, threatening to dislocate.

"Apparently, the past few days have made you overconfident," the spirit said.  "I'll fix that."

His shoulder was twisted further in the socket, and Ryou could tell there were only a few moments before it came out completely.  "I'll warn him," he gasped.  The spirit stilled.  "You'll never be able to get close enough to Yugi to take the Puzzle," he added, wondering how long it was going to lock him away for **this** time.  

There was a long, slow pause, and Ryou could feel the muscles in his arm straining.  Then the spirit jerked upwards.  The bone dislocated with a sickening pop, and only the terror of turning his body over to the spirit kept him from passing out.  Ryou bit down on his scream, but sound came out anyway, smothered and dark and scarily promising in the confines of the room.

Then it let him go, and he fell to the floor with a thump, landing on his bad side with a yelp.  Through the pain-haze, he saw the spirit disappear back into the Ring.

Ryou lay there, his mind fuzzy, and wondered if he'd won.  Then he squeezed his eyes shut.  He had to get up and find someone to help him--his arm was going to hurt until it was popped back into place, and he didn't think he could do it himself.

He realized someone was knocking on the door.  "Bakura?  Ya ready ta go yet?" came Joey's drawl.

"Joey!" he called.  "Help!"

There was a rattling from the door, and the blond burst in.  Ryou couldn't see more than his feet, but he figured that his fists were already up.  "Bakura?" he asked, kneeling down next to his head.  "What's wrong?"

"My shoulder," he managed faintly.  Joey, an experienced delinquent and street brat, recognized the problem immediately.  He pulled Ryou up with his good arm, then braced him and popped the joint back into place.  Ryou sighed in relief.

"There.  Good as new," Joey said, slapping his arm gingerly.

"Thanks," Ryou said gratefully.

"No prob'," Joey shrugged.  "How'd ya do that, anyway?"

The dark presence of the spirit crawled beneath his skin, half taking him over.  I can kill him before he ever notices the change, it whispered.

Ryou hesitated a second.  "I got it caught in the bed," he said, the words sounding glaringly false to him.  "I was reaching under and my wrist hooked on a spring and...."  He trailed off before it became obvious he was lying.

"You spilled some cards unda there?" Joey asked good-humoredly.

The cards were still on the floor...the Eye!  "Yeah," Ryou said, crouching down and covering the Eye with his foot.  He picked up a few cards from the floor and straightened them.

Joey knelt down and scooped a big handful of cards together, stacking them into a haphazard mess.  Ryou would have to sort them out later.  "I don't blame ya," Joey said.

Ryou's eyes widened.  "For what?"

"Bein' so eager to leave.  I can't wait ta be outta here, either."  Joey turned to pick up another card that had fluttered beneath the chair, and Ryou scooped up the Eye and slipped it into his pocket.  It weighed him down in there, lumpy and awkward and still crusted with Pegasus' blood.

"Yeah," Ryou answered quietly.

"Are you okay?" Joey asked, turning to look him straight on.

Ryou stared back at him, feeling the spirit start to stir closer to the front of his mind.  "Yes," he answered.  "Why do you ask?"

Joey shrugged again.  "You looked really tired at breakfast today, an' Yugi said ya had a nightmare or somethin'."

Ryou gave him a smile that felt much too weak to be effective.  "I did," he nodded, "but I'm okay.  Really."

Joey gave him that unsettling look for a time longer, and Ryou wished he would just **stop, because the spirit was growing more restless with each second, and he was struggling to keep it back.  He had to keep his eyes on the cards so Joey couldn't see the conflict in them.  He didn't want to defy it again--he was already going to pay enough for this time.**

"I'm worried about you an' Yugi," Joey said.  "Yug' had that break down over his spirit, an' yours went around stealin' souls...."  He pushed the cards into a more uniformed rectangle, and handed them over.  "I just worry 'bout you two."

Ryou smiled at him again, meaning it more this time.  "Yugi sounded fine when I talked to him this morning, and he dueled great today--you both did.  I think he's himself again."

"What abou' you?" Joey asked.

Ryou tucked the cards into the pouch and tied the strings again.  "I'm fine," he answered.  "Just getting used to things."

Joey nodded and looked as if he were going to say something else, but Tristan's voice echoed down the corridor, coming closer.  "Joey!  Bakura!  Did the two of you get sucked into a black hole or something?!"

"We're comin'!" Joey shouted back.  "Hold your horses!"

"There aren't any horses here at the moment," Tristan called.  "Just some turtles!"

"Better ta be a turtle than have rhino hair!" Joey yelled back.  Tristan's reply was indecipherable to Ryou with the echoes of the corridor.

Joey declined to answer.  "Smartass," he muttered, standing up and brushing off.  Ryou slipped his deck into his pocket and glanced around the room one last time, just to be sure.  There didn't seem to be any other Millennium Items hidden away in a corner.

As he glanced about, he could feel that the spirit was still active inside him, and Ryou thought it might be better for everyone if he just locked himself in the room.

You really **have gotten too sure of yourself, He said, humor and malice in His voice.  Ryou clenched his hands into fists, but didn't dare reply.  There was nothing he could do.  If the spirit had escaped even the Shadow Realm, he'd never be free of it, and he'd better not aggravate Him.**

Joey had left already, and it sounded like he and Tristan were shoving each other in the hallway.  Tea and a guard yelled at them.

Ryou slipped out the door, fingering the Eye in his pocket.

"Bakura!" came Yugi's voice from further down the corridor.  Ryou's head jerked up.  Inside his mind, he could feel the spirit surge forward, and he clenched the Eye until the embossed part cut into his skin.  _I **will** tell him, he thought, putting all the force he could muster into the statement._

There was quiet inside his mind.  ...We'll see, He said, with the promise of punishment in it's words.  Then it slipped away, returning to the Ring, and leaving him feeling exhausted.

That silence worried him more than anything else.  "'Ello, Yugi," he said.

Yugi gave the further part of the hallway an embarrassedly amused look.  "Joey and Tristan are getting yelled at for joking around," he said, folding his arms.  "All the guards are going crazy with Pegasus' illness."  He ducked his head, and Ryou could see a hint of sadness in his eyes.  _It's so much like Yugi to feel sympathy for someone who suffered, he thought,_ even an enemy like Pegasus.  _Even an enemy like him_.__

Ryou nodded hesitantly and slipped his hand out of his pocket.  Before he could think of anything to reply, Joey came stomping down the corridor with Tristan and Tea on his heels.

"These guys 'ave way too high an opinion a themselves," he growled, "especially fer looking like **rejects from Men in Black!"  He shouted the last part over his shoulder.**

Tea, who was blushing a shade of red commonly found on lobsters, grabbed his arm and started dragging him down the corridor.  "We're leaving now," she said to Yugi and Ryou as they passed by, "before these two dorks get us all arrested."

Yugi nodded.  "Good idea," he said.

"Hey!  Half of this is Tristan's fault!  Why aincha draggin' him around?" Joey demanded.

"Because **you're** the worst!" Tea snapped back.

They continued bickering down the hallway.  Ryou fell in a little behind Tristan, taking care to walk far away from Yugi.  The smaller boy shot him a confused look at first, but Ryou stared steadfastly ahead.

The Millennium Eye kept hitting his leg with every step.

"Ah! well-a-day! what evil looks  
Had I from old and young!  
Instead of the cross, the Albatross  
About my neck was hung."


End file.
